PELLA, Iowa –Commerce Under Secretary for International Trade, Francisco Sánchez, participated in a National Export Initiative (NEI) Iowa Exporter Roundtable with Export-Import Bank Chairman Fred Hochberg and members of the President’s Export Council hosted by Vermeer Corporation in Pella, Iowa, today.

Sánchez listened to the participants as they shared their export successes and the export challenges small and medium-sized businesses face. He then discussed the services the International Trade Administration’s (ITA) U.S. Export Assistance Centers (USEAC) have in place to assist Iowa businesses export.

“The Des Moines USEAC is ready, willing and more than able to assist you with your exporting needs,” Sánchez said. “They offer an array of services to U.S. companies that are new to exporting and companies that want to expand to additional markets.”

Iowa's export shipments of merchandise in 2009 totaled $9 billion. The state’s largest export market, by far, was Canada. Iowa exported $3 billion worth of merchandise to the Canadian market in 2009, accounting for 34 percent of the state’s export total that year. Canada was followed by Mexico with 2009 exports of $1.4 billion, exports to Japan totaled $822 million, Germany $452 million, and China $367 million.

Sánchez noted that more than 2,600 Iowa companies exported goods in 2008. Eighty-two percent of those businesses were in the small to medium-size range. He said that Iowa companies are on the right track to take advantage of a world in which 95 percent of the customers are outside the United States.

Sánchez said, “The NEI’s purpose is to increase sales of American goods and services to consumers outside the United States, especially countries with a growing global middle class. We must understand that these new consumers will drive the global economy, and ITA can help you figure out how to sell to them therefore growing our own economy.”

This trip builds on the one-year anniversary of President Obama’s National Export Initiative with its goal of doubling exports by 2015 and supporting millions of U.S. jobs. U.S. exports increased 17 percent during the first 11 months of 2010, compared to the previous year.

The NEI emphasizes helping small businesses learn how to export, to meet prospective foreign buyers, and to improve small business access to credit for those that want to export.

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International Trade Administration

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